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Moira's Reviews > Code Name Verity
Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)
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Wow, I'm still pretty gutted hours after finishing it. I don't really know if I can write a coherent review here; I might try later. I mainly want to go out and press this on complete strangers. Read it, now, and for GOD'S SAKE don't let anyone spoil you about any aspect of the plot. There are no kidding about four or five major plot twists, with no cheating -- they're all carefully foreshadowed and clues are dropped (there's even an in-character reference to this right at the beginning!) and it's just amazing. (view spoiler)
If it doesn't sound too completely off, this book is almost more like what I wanted Blackout/All Clear to be -- not time travel and all that of course, but the idea of the smallest action having reverberations through time, of "small" daily heroism being just as good as great big theatrical famous heroism, or when those two kinds of heroism even come together and are the same thing -- the "miracle of the little ships" at Dunkirk for Willis, and....well here I have the same problem as everyone else, that you can't talk about specific events in this book because that will really spoil the reading experience. (view spoiler)
If it doesn't sound too completely off, this book is almost more like what I wanted Blackout/All Clear to be -- not time travel and all that of course, but the idea of the smallest action having reverberations through time, of "small" daily heroism being just as good as great big theatrical famous heroism, or when those two kinds of heroism even come together and are the same thing -- the "miracle of the little ships" at Dunkirk for Willis, and....well here I have the same problem as everyone else, that you can't talk about specific events in this book because that will really spoil the reading experience. (view spoiler)
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Reading Progress
March 15, 2012
– Shelved
April 6, 2012
– Shelved as:
ebook
April 6, 2012
– Shelved as:
on-the-kindle
October 27, 2012
–
Started Reading
October 27, 2012
–
7.0%
"'For a blanket in my cold little room, SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Amadeus von Linden, I would without remorse or hesitation rat on my heroic ancestor William Wallace, Guardian of Scotland.' hahaha this book is going to shred me into little pieces, isn't it. That's okay."
October 27, 2012
–
7.0%
"'Single-handedly I have brought down the 700-year-strong Auld Alliance between France and Scotland.' Okay, I just adore her. DOES SHE DIE? SHE DIES, DOESN'T SHE."
October 28, 2012
–
87.0%
"OK, managed not to cry so far but "We are still a sensational team" made me SOB. Lord."
October 28, 2012
– Shelved as:
2012-50-new-books-challenge
October 28, 2012
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-27 of 27 (27 new)
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Tori
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rated it 5 stars
Mar 15, 2012 06:38AM
Hurrah! I love this book.
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Tori wrote: "Hurrah! I love this book."It doesn't seem to be available?....sigh
Moira wrote: It doesn't seem to be available?....sigh"The US publication date is in May. I got the UK version from The Book Depository.
Tori wrote: "The US publication date is in May. I got the UK version from The Book Depository."Oh! Smart.
Moira wrote: "Oh! Smart."I think May 6 is the US pub date.
I am one of the least objective readers of this book ever. But it is fantastic, and I want it to be crazily successful.
There is an ARC giveaway!
Liberty wrote: "Wow. Really? I'd love it if you'd write a full review. It sounds really interesting."It was REALLY fantastic. Writing a review of it would be a real problem, because the book is kind of constantly commenting on itself and one thing turns into another and it's not even like the conventional "surprise!" in mysteries -- altho there are some of those too -- I'll have to think about it. I did manage to write a spoiler-free review of Time of the Ghost, tho....
Tori wrote: "There is an ARC giveaway!"I can't believe I waited THIS DAMN LONG to read it. Well, yes I can, because I mean the book starts off with her in the torture cell and just gets worse from there. It was amazing, but wrenching. And you got into the acks! Nice!
It's awfully heartwrenching, isn't it? I love it so.It's wretchedly small, but my icon here is my Julie Halloween costume from two years ago. I put absurd amounts of work into the details.
I often cheat and view the spoilers, but this time I didn't. You told us not to if we plan to read it, and your review has me curious.
So, I know this is one of those books that everyone says "don't read spoilers! Find out as little as possible before going in!" I appreciate that people are trying to keep the twists private, but I'm also not totally sold on it as necessary. I really don't think knowing the spoilers ruins it.
Tori wrote: "It's wretchedly small, but my icon here is my Julie Halloween costume from two years ago. I put absurd amounts of work into the details. "OMG, that's adorable.
Steve wrote: "I often cheat and view the spoilers, but this time I didn't. You told us not to if we plan to read it, and your review has me curious."I'm a total spoiler slut and this is one of the few times I didn't know nearly all the details ahead of time, and I'm glad I didn't.
moira -- not reading this thread bc i'm in the middle of reading the book and i am TERRIFIED of spoilers. BUT: this book is helping me in what is, generally speaking, a rather difficult time, and i was wonder, if, PERCHANCE, you know of a book with the same qualities: lots pain, for sure, and torture (inner, outer), but also, because you know it's YA, a faith that is not going to leave you with bitterness and disillusionment and a sense of the horror of the world.
Jo, have you read any of her other books? I'd recommend checking out The Winter Prince and Sunbird for sure.
hi tori. thank you. i'm really not a fantasy/ancient history person. are they excellent enough to make me forget that they take place in arthurian times?
I think they're amazing, but I am also an ancient history person. They aren't fantasy novels at all.
thank you tori! ordering at the library now.
Was that for me, or Moira? I read this book differently than anyone else, and have been reading Elizabeth Wein for nearly 20 years, I've learned how to spot the foreshadowing.(view spoiler)
i think i read it like you, tori. everything is foreshadowed really well. i love this book, but the plot twists weren't really twists for me (that's why i wrote supposed to be a mystery). it's the way she handles everything that i think is so brilliant.
Emilie, I'm glad someone else picked up on the same foreshadowing as me.
Great review. You explain the complexities best. How do I link to your review in my review?
